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Alternative posed to gov's housing plan

The Lowell Sun

Updated:
10/02/2013 06:36:04 AM EDT

By Lisa Hagen

Statehouse Correspondent

BOSTON -- Public-housing leaders Tuesday offered an alternative to Gov. Deval Patrick's proposal that would consolidate scores of local housing authorities, proposing a plan they said would keep intact local control and participation.

"The most important element in all of this are the residents," said Tom Connelly, executive director of the state's chapter of National Association of Housing & Redevelopment Officials. "We struggle to keep tenants in units and a stable housing environment, so we owe a lot of gratitude to housing authorities."

Patrick's proposal, which has been in review since January, would meld the state's 240 public-housing authorities into six regional ones that the governor has said would enhance transparency and efficiency in the way housing for low-income and elderly residents is managed across Massachusetts.

While acknowledging Patrick's support for public housing, Connelly pitched an alternative House bill to the Joint Committee on Housing that would instead allow housing authorities to collaborate on a smaller-scale.

"The major problem of housing authorities is underfunding," Connelly said. "There is a gap between what we need to run (housing authorities) and what is available.

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Connelly said his group has worked "very quietly" to create these coalitions of public-housing authorities that still maintain local control. He said he wants to continue this process by condensing 50 housing authorities that have fewer than 100 units.

Thirty-two housing authorities have already voluntarily joined a consortium that shares staff, but still preserve their local boards, which convene on a monthly basis.

"The most important element in all of this are the residents," he said. "We struggle to keep tenants in units and a stable housing environment, so we owe a lot of gratitude to housing authorities."

Gene Capoccia, president of the state housing coalition's board of directors, has since 1999 overseen the collaboration process that incorporates the Leominster, Lunenburg, and Sterling housing authorities. Fitchburg is the most recent addition to the consortium.

Capoccia said this partnership has improved its services to residents, noting that within the past 10 years, the Leominster coalition, including Lunenburg and Sterling, has been able to reinvest $1.2 million back into the housing system.

"We were able to really get local control," he said, including local housing board meetings and direct resident involvement. "We have a successful model, something that I think we can copy around the state."

Rep. Cory Atkins, D-Concord, agreed that a smaller-scale collaboration effort is a good compromise, saying that a more comprehensive consolidation would have a chilling effect on local housing authorities.

But Aaron Gornstein, undersecretary of the state's Department Housing and Community Development, made a pitch for Patrick's proposals, arguing that a wider consolidation would modernize the system as well as be more cost-effective and transparent.

"The existing system is incapable of meeting these challenges primarily due to lack of scale and capacity of the majority of housing rules," Gornstein told the committee. "Many authorities also lack resources to provide adequate services to our increasingly complex tenant population."

Under the governor's plans, Gornstein said the six proposed regional housing authorities would own the public housing's land and equipment and assume responsibility for fiscal and operational management. Daily operations, such as collecting rent and maintaining grounds and repairs, would continue on-site with local staff while regional staff would handle issues such as finance and law.

He said the change would provide his department with the opportunity to concentrate more on funding, oversight, and innovation.

"The governor's legislation preserves the critical role of local communities in shaping their public housing and strong tenant participation," he said.

Gornstein said that the regional housing authorities are projected to save the state millions annually, money that can be reinvested right back into public housing.

The catalyst for change in the administration of public housing authorities has been prompted by a wave of controversies and scandals, especially related to a lack of managerial oversight.

Earlier this year, Michael McLaughlin, of Dracut, former executive director of the Chelsea Housing Authority, pleaded guilty to grossly underreporting his salary and will serve a 3-year federal prison sentence. He resigned in 2011 when he failed to report an almost $300,000 jump in his salary.

And a recent federal audit by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Inspector General's Office was critical of the Lowell Housing Authority for not performing cost estimates during renovation projects from 2008 to 2012 including North Common Village, Bishop Markham Village, and the George Flanagan Development

The LHA's failure to record whether at least $9.2 million in no-bid union labor, or force-account labor, was cost-effective could result in them repaying more than $11.4 million to the federal government.

Gornstein said the Department of Housing and Community Development has implemented several recommendations for reform, including a $160,000 salary cap for executives, confirmation of monthly board meeting attendance, and independent financial audits conducted annually by fiscal year 2014.

Sen. James Eldridge, D-Acton, Housing Committee chairman, said that legislators are still reviewing both bills, but believes that either reform will help tackle concerns over corruption by requiring independent audits, recertification, and mandatory training of commissioners.

"I think both go to great lengths to reduce or eliminate corruption and make progress in making sure what happened at Chelsea doesn't happen again," Eldridge said.

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